Curtailing Third Party Resale

copcarguyp71

Well-Known Member
Just quoting you to avoid multi-quoting, as this line of thinking is prevelant in this thread.

Let me explain, in it's simplest form, why this is wrong headed.

There is a set number of those popcorn buckets. Whatever it is, let's call it 100 for simplicities sake. You can sell those to one loser guy and make $1395 or you can sell them to 100 individual guests and make $1395. Now, why would or rather should, Disney care if it was 1 or 100 guests? A little thing called guest satisfaction. You sell to 1 guy, then you have 99 unhappy guests. You sell to 100 individuals, that's 100 happy guests. It's simple. Those buckets will sell, it's simply a matter of guest satisfaction at this point.

It's called strike while the iron is hot. I am usually dead-set against the whole "profitability first" mindset BUT Disney is a business and like I said before if they sell all 100 to one individual and sell out then they will take it all day long over selling to 99 individuals and having one left over...it is the new Disney and it is the way of the future...just like our vacation to Grenada this fall is our families' new wave of the future.
 

copcarguyp71

Well-Known Member
Irrelevant. If one guy is buying an entire stock of them, and leaving the next "x" number of guests to be dissatisfied, that is bad business practice.

Not on a spreadsheet it isn't...and they are all about that. I get that you disagree with it but truth of the matter is as long as the parks are packed and merch is sold...let Rome burn
 

xdan0920

Think for yourselfer
Not on a spreadsheet it isn't...and they are all about that. I get that you disagree with it but truth of the matter is as long as the parks are packed and merch is sold...let Rome burn
Except recent events contradict your theory. I know it's fun to bash TDO. But, bottom lines are effected by guest satisfaction. Look no further then the recent limits on Frozen Merch. Disney does not want these guys doing this. Wether they can find an effective way of stopping it, I don't know.
 

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
After seeing this pic on the interwebs I starting thinking, what if Disney started scanning the magic band with all cash or credit purchases. Then they could put a limit such as 1 per guest per day on popular items and stop the hoarders selling merchandise on third party markets.

The story behind the pic. Supposedly this person was seen buying the entire supply of popcorn buckets just after park opening.

http://i.imgur.com/yOxh19k.jpg

You really have to look at the picture again before you make assumptions about what it is showing. He certainly is a CM delivering the buckets, he has a radio and is on the CM side of the popcorn wagon not the guest side.

Don't believe everything you see/read on the interwebz
 

xdan0920

Think for yourselfer
You really have to look at the picture again before you make assumptions about what it is showing. He certainly is a CM delivering the buckets, he has a radio and is on the CM side of the popcorn wagon not the guest side.

Don't believe everything you see/read on the interwebz

That's not a radio. Also, they let on stage CMs wear cargo shorts with grey socks and ratty sneakers?
 

216bruce

Well-Known Member
Just quoting you to avoid multi-quoting, as this line of thinking is prevelant in this thread.

Let me explain, in it's simplest form, why this is wrong headed.

There is a set number of those popcorn buckets. Whatever it is, let's call it 100 for simplicities sake. You can sell those to one loser guy and make $1395 or you can sell them to 100 individual guests and make $1395. Now, why would or rather should, Disney care if it was 1 or 100 guests? A little thing called guest satisfaction. You sell to 1 guy, then you have 99 unhappy guests. You sell to 100 individuals, that's 100 happy guests. It's simple. Those buckets will sell, it's simply a matter of guest satisfaction at this point.
Congratulations on pointing out the difference between 'good business' and "all that matters is the bottom line". I agree wholeheartedly with you. TDO knows that just about any 'limited edition item' WILL sell-out. Limiting the number of items sold to any one individual sale would sure help with satisfaction and, because the stuff WILL be gone anyway, why not try and make folks happy?
Ironically, I'd bet that some of the folks supporting the 'all that matters is profit' side of the policy also become a little grumbly whenever Disney ups admission costs, hotel rates, etc. Can't have it both ways folks.
As an aside, I find the whole idea of "limited editions" in the thousands just ludicrous. Limited is a relative term. Once there's a comma in there it ain't very limited. But...there's one born every minute.
 

bingie

Well-Known Member
You really have to look at the picture again before you make assumptions about what it is showing. He certainly is a CM delivering the buckets, he has a radio and is on the CM side of the popcorn wagon not the guest side.

Don't believe everything you see/read on the interwebz

Nope not a cast member.

He's not Disney look, and not wearing the costume. The CM delivering the buckets would have the same costume on or the costume for the area coordinator. A manager would not be allowed to wear shorts.
 

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
It's called strike while the iron is hot. I am usually dead-set against the whole "profitability first" mindset BUT Disney is a business and like I said before if they sell all 100 to one individual and sell out then they will take it all day long over selling to 99 individuals and having one left over...it is the new Disney and it is the way of the future.
Sorry man but you're just dead wrong. See: limits on Frozen merchandise, limits on limited edition pins, limits on SotMK booster packs (when they were selling like hotcakes), etc. This particular example is probably flying under the radar because they're freaking popcorn buckets, but Disney absolutely cares about this kind of thing in principle.
 

Gabe1

Ivory Tower Squabble EST 2011. WINDMILL SURVIVOR
Congratulations on pointing out the difference between 'good business' and "all that matters is the bottom line". I agree wholeheartedly with you. TDO knows that just about any 'limited edition item' WILL sell-out. Limiting the number of items sold to any one individual sale would sure help with satisfaction and, because the stuff WILL be gone anyway, why not try and make folks happy?
Ironically, I'd bet that some of the folks supporting the 'all that matters is profit' side of the policy also become a little grumbly whenever Disney ups admission costs, hotel rates, etc. Can't have it both ways folks.
As an aside, I find the whole idea of "limited editions" in the thousands just ludicrous. Limited is a relative term. Once there's a comma in there it ain't very limited. But...there's one born every minute.

The word Limited is only tossed in there to hype for collectors not the average guest. The average guest would either like it and buy it or walk past.

If Disney put Limited Edition on a Poncho and altered the logo collectors would be buying those up to, it is all marketing and Disney is marketing to those high volume fans that will spend substantially more merchandise than general guests consistently. Just look at how many major pin collectors there are. Of course Disney is going to continue to fuel the supply for the major collectors, it is just a good marketing business model.

It isn't like Disney can't just restock the popcorn stock when 25 popcorn buckets roll are sold. You see it with the Limited Edition Tshirts every time there is a 24 hour event. Sell out, open another case of Tshirts. My son wanted one of those Tshirts for the first Leap Year 24 hour event but the lines were nuts. I just ordered it online. They actually threw those so called limited edition shirts back into production and 6 weeks later he had his shirt and in the size he wanted not what was just left over.
 

Eckert

Well-Known Member
Raise prices. If dummies are willing to pay $35 for them from a reseller, charge $35 for them up front. The resellers lose their incentive because their margin has been absorbed by disney.

But I'm not a dummy, and I don't want to pay $35 for a popcorn bucket.
 

216bruce

Well-Known Member
The word Limited is only tossed in there to hype for collectors not the average guest. The average guest would either like it and buy it or walk past.

If Disney put Limited Edition on a Poncho and altered the logo collectors would be buying those up to, it is all marketing and Disney is marketing to those high volume fans that will spend substantially more merchandise than general guests consistently. Just look at how many major pin collectors there are. Of course Disney is going to continue to fuel the supply for the major collectors, it is just a good marketing business model.

It isn't like Disney can't just restock the popcorn stock when 25 popcorn buckets roll are sold. You see it with the Limited Edition Tshirts every time there is a 24 hour event. Sell out, open another case of Tshirts. My son wanted one of those Tshirts for the first Leap Year 24 hour event but the lines were nuts. I just ordered it online. They actually threw those so called limited edition shirts back into production and 6 weeks later he had his shirt and in the size he wanted not what was just left over.
Yeah, I'm a collector of some Disney stuff- old WDCC sculptures and some truly 'limited' cels and drawings from features, but the madness for mass-produced "stuff" is beyond me. I mean...it's a popcorn bucket or it's a pin...or a running show (hideous to boot). There are thousands of them and if TDO wants to make more, well, any number less than infinity is, in theory "limited".
 

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
Why would Disney really care about this? If their shelves are empty at the end of the day by third party buyers then why would they discourage it and potentially have product left on the shelves. Everyone on here talks about how great Disney's bottom line is and to heck with the experience if the company makes money (which I disagree with) but this is capitalism at its finest so....yeah, I doubt they give a care that someone didn't get the plush Eeyore of their dreams as long as they have a strong financial quarter.

Because the point of limited-availability merchandise isn't to make guests happy by letting them buy the item; it's coaxing them to buy a park ticket or annual pass in order to be able to purchase the item in the first place. With limited-production items, even if they're cheap plastic popcorn buckets or whatever, the profit margin at retail is much, much lower, if Disney turns a profit on the item at all. They might be loss leaders. Again, Disney's intent wasn't to make money from the sale itself so much as from promoting in-park shopping and active collector retail activity. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made the item an in-park exclusive and could have just liquidated them on a website or something, probably at a higher price point commiserate with the low production number. When a guy like this (pretty smartly, in my opinion) buys out all of the items for himself it defeats the purpose of Disney having made the item an in-park exclusive. Even if potential buyer/collectors for the item had already bought tickets or made the the trip to the park on that day in the hopes of finding and buying the item, ALL of them except one not being able to do so would probably have a chilling effect on their likelihood to make a similar effort to be at the park in the future, again frustrating Disney's purpose.
 

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Because the point of limited-availability merchandise isn't to make guests happy by letting them buy the item; it's coaxing them to buy a park ticket or annual pass in order to be able to purchase the item in the first place. With limited-production items, even if they're cheap plastic popcorn buckets or whatever, the profit margin at retail is much, much lower, if Disney turns a profit on the item at all. They might be loss leaders. Again, Disney's intent wasn't to make money from the sale itself so much as from promoting in-park shopping and active collector retail activity. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made the item an in-park exclusive and could have just liquidated them on a website or something, probably at a higher price point commiserate with the low production number. When a guy like this (pretty smartly, in my opinion) buys out all of the items for himself it defeats the purpose of Disney having made the item an in-park exclusive. Even if potential buyer/collectors for the item had already bought tickets or made the the trip to the park on that day in the hopes of finding and buying the item, ALL of them except one not being able to do so would probably have a chilling effect on their likelihood to make a similar effort to be at the park in the future, again frustrating Disney's purpose.
No, certainly not a loss leader.
 

216bruce

Well-Known Member
How can a popcorn bucket that cost pennies to make/sells for 13 bucks and already has it's distribution and sales point in-place be a loss leader? Yeah, I get the whole "If you sell it they will come" thing, but don't you increase consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty by throwing the consumer a bone once in a while? Let them think they've got something that's cool and collectible and they didn't have to buy it from "Johnny Get-a-life".
Yeah, I know...old school Disney...Walt era. Sad.
 

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
How can a popcorn bucket that cost pennies to make/sells for 13 bucks and already has it's distribution and sales point in-place be a loss leader? Yeah, I get the whole "If you sell it they will come" thing, but don't you increase consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty by throwing the consumer a bone once in a while? Let them think they've got something that's cool and collectible and they didn't have to buy it from "Johnny Get-a-life".
Yeah, I know...old school Disney...Walt era. Sad.
It called the scarcity principle, which is a simple and effective marketing tool and economics basic that most consumers don't understand and profitable companies use very effectively.
 
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Bairstow

Well-Known Member
How can a popcorn bucket that cost pennies to make/sells for 13 bucks and already has it's distribution and sales point in-place be a loss leader? Yeah, I get the whole "If you sell it they will come" thing, but don't you increase consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty by throwing the consumer a bone once in a while? Let them think they've got something that's cool and collectible and they didn't have to buy it from "Johnny Get-a-life".
Yeah, I know...old school Disney...Walt era. Sad.

Design and mold creation for thermoplastic injection is actually very expensive, even in China.
When it's shared across several thousand units these initial costs become negligible, but if it's only a couple hundred they can be quite high.
 

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